ABOUT THIS EPISODE
It’s April 1983 and in Hamburg, Stern is just putting the final touches to its coverage and its promotional film. But for TV producer Barbara Dickmann, something seems very off with her final interviewee – the journalist behind the scoop, Gerd Heidemann. Over in the Sunday Times offices in London, features editor Magnus Linklater is getting pulled onto the biggest story of his life. In Koblenz, West Germany, Dr Josef Henke finally gets the police results from the forensic tests which will prove whether the Hitler diaries are real or not. And back in Cambridge, historian Hugh Trevor-Roper is having second thoughts about his seal of approval. Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.
Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.
In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?
Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.
Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4
